Hanoi attraktioner

Limestone karats rise majestically from emerald waters to form thousands of islets. Tranquil waters are perfect for cruising at leisure through breathtaking scenery - coral reefs, mangrove forests, sandy cove beaches and magical grottoes make this a truly must-see destination. There are activities on the larger islands - kayaking, bicycling etc. There is superb locally caught seafood, but many will be mesmerized just by the calming waters and the changing light across the bay that makes this such an unforgettable experience.

Three stories of wholesale and traditional goods, local food and hand-tailored clothes, as well as cosmetics and crafts, make the massive Dong Xuan Market a true experience of southeast Asia. Both locals and tourists hustle through the jam-packed stalls of Dong Xuan during daylight hours, bartering for better deals on just about anything imaginable. But it’s after dark that the market truly comes alive, as travelers gather to sample traditional foods while watching cultural performances that include music, dance and plenty of energy, too.

The Old Quarter is the cultural heart of Hanoi where the pulse of life has constantly beat for nearly 2,000 years. Daily routine starts early and builds to a friendly bustle. Streets have distinct character and are named after the crafts once made there - silver, ladder, silk, paper. St. Joseph's cathedral rings for mass regularly throughout the day, follow the bells to check its Neo-Gothic style. Huyen Thien Pagoda is another of the many temples peppered around this part of town. The Old City Gate is one of four original entrances to the heart of the Royal City to survive over a thousand years. Take time to sample the spirit, atmosphere and shopping on offer here - nothing says Hanoi like its Old Quarter.

Don't leave Hanoi without seeing a Thang Long Water Puppet Theater show. These musical stories portrayed are of historical legends and folk tales. These ever-popular performances are given by a troupe of talented actors and accompanied by a traditional Vietnamese pit orchestra. Great entertainment for all ages. Charming, curious, and enchanting - you'll be pleased you experienced it.

The Temple of Literature (or Quoc Tu Giam) was originally built as a Confucian Temple in 1070 AD. Six years later on the same grounds was founded Vietnam's first university to educate the administrative and military warrior Mandarin classes. Over the years buildings have been added and renovated but much of the architecture dates back to the Lý (1010 - 1225) and Trần dynasties (1225 - 1400). The university operated for more than 700 years but today you can experience the tranquility without its warrior students, with its beautiful gardens and pavilions in a series of courtyards.

The Lake of the Restored Sword holds as big a place in local folklore as it does in Hanoi’s city culture. According to local legend, an ancient emperor was once floating along the lake when the Golden Turtle God requested his magic sword. It’s an age-old story that locals still tell to curious tourists who wander the lake’s scenic shores. It marks the divide between Hanoi’s Old Quarter and French Quarter and is also home to an endangered species of massive soft-shell turtles that gave nearby Turtle Temple its name. Today, travelers flock to the lake to escape the hustle of the city. And while the morning hours prove a calming way to greet the day (locals like to gather at one of the many quiet cafes to sip cups of strong, sweet coffee as the sun rises), it’s worth sticking around after dark to capture pictures of Hanoi’s skyline aglow with glittering white lights.

At this mausoleum the preserved body of Ho Chi Minh, founder of unified Vietnam and the country's liberator from Western colonialism, lies in a glass case for public viewing. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex was built with assistance from the USSR and the austere and impressive architecture is recognizably Soviet/Communist in design. Around the building lie 240 ordered squares of manicured grass cut with concrete walkways. This dedication to 'Uncle Ho,' as he is affectionately known, is unsurprisingly one of the nation's most revered sites and as such this is a moving, and eerie, experience. Nearby is the popular Ho Chi Minh Museum dedicated to his life and work.

The Perfume Pagoda located in a vast grotto on Huong Son mountain, in a national park where the scent of flowers lends the shrine its name. Enjoy the scenery as you are rowed up a winding river to the site. You can hike the 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) up the mountain, or take a cable car. At the top, you may feel like you're on some sort of bizarre Hollywood set where you'd expect Indiana Jones or Lara Croft to meet a spiritual Bruce Lee. Here spirituality lives in harmony with nature. This Buddhist shrine is situated in the throat of a giant cave amongst spectacular rock formations and stalactites, and even features a spiritual stairway to heaven.

Legend has it that while Emperor Ly Thai Tong was troubled about being childless, he dreamt that he met the bodhisattva, Quan Am, who, sitting on a lotus flower, offered him a son. Soon after he married a peasant girl who bore him a son, and in gratitude he built the One Pillar Pagoda (or Chua Mot Cot) in the design of a lotus flower on its stem rising from a square pond. The original temple was destroyed by the French Union in 1954, it was rebuilt on a single concrete pillar of 1.25 meter (4 foot) diameter. The temple itself is made from wood and bears a statue of Quan Am, to whom it is dedicated, inside.

Dedicated to General Tran Hung Dao, who defeated the Mongols in the 13th century, the picturesque Ngoc Son Temple on Hoam Kiem Lake is one of the most-visited temples in all of Hanoi. A brilliant red bridge connects the mainland to the temple’s tiny island, where cooling waters and shaded trees circle the place where locals gather for worship and contemplation. Also known as the Temple of the Jade Mountain, Ngoc Son offers breathtaking lake views and picture-perfect shots of the storied Tortoise Tower, as well as a rare glimpse of richly colored wall paintings, handcrafted sculptures and the Pen Tower. Although crossing the bridge is free, there is a small fee to enter the temple.

Designed by Parisian architects and built between 1899 and 1902, Hanoi’s Long Bien Bridge was the first steel bridge spanning the Red River and has long been a point of pride for the Vietnamese. During the war against the French in 1954, the bridge served as a vital transportation link for moving food into Northern Central Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, the bridge was bombed by American air attacks, and yet today, it still stands as a testament to the nation’s tumultuous history. Apart from its historical significance, the bridge has a pedestrian path where vendors often set up stalls selling some of the city’s tastiest street foods. It’s also one of the best spots in Hanoi for watching a sunrise or sunset, and it’s not unusual to see young couples having their wedding pictures taken on the historic structure.

Once used by French colonialists to house political prisoners—and later by North Vietnam to hold activists rallying for independence—what now remains of Hoa Lo Prison has become a popular destination for travelers visiting Hanoi. Sometimes sarcastically called the “Hanoi Hilton,” Hoa Lo once held more than 2,000 prisoners in subhuman conditions within its crowded quarters. Prisoners included a number of leaders from Communist North Vietnam, as well as American pilots and soldiers during the Vietnam War. Hoa Lo became a school for revolutionaries once its prisoners were released, before being totally demolished in the 1990s. Today, the original gates to Hoa Lo lead to a replica of the prison, where travelers can tour cells, explore prison culture and better understand the conditions political captives lived under.

Do Temple, located in Dinh Bang Village 9 miles (15 kilometers) from Hanoi, was built during the Le Dynasty (1009 to 1225) and has become one of Vietnam’s most important and most visited temples. The uniquely Vietnamese temple is dedicated to the deities of eight kings of the Ly Dynasty, though the ninth and final ruler – a female – was left out. Ly Cong Uan, the first ruler of the Ly Dynasty, was responsible for bringing the capital to Thang Long in 1010. Apart from its historical significance, the temple is also famous for its beautiful architecture. The temple grounds include a two-story floating stage on a large lake, once used for water puppetry and now used primarily for Quan Ho folk song performances.

A handful of seemingly sleepy traditional trade villages—most known for their local crafts—dot the scenic hillsides just beyond Hanoi, and Bat Trang Ceramic, famous for its intricately painted tiles, pots, vases and plates, is one of the most popular. Travelers can explore the dozens of shops that line the streets of this ancient village, where, in spite of its quiet vibe, local artisans work tirelessly producing some of the most exquisite pottery in the nation, having perfected the age-old craft. In addition to visiting the traditional factories, collecting pieces by local artisans and learning about the ancient art of ceramics from Bat Trang experts, travelers can comb through shops and learn from locals how to paint ceramic statues using traditional glazes, or even craft bowls and vases by hand. Visitors transform raw clay into expertly enameled pieces of art under the watchful eyes of Bat Trang’s trained ceramics masters.

Amid the congested streets of Hanoi, the neo-Gothic facade of St. Joseph’s Cathedral (Nha Tho Lon) seems somewhat out of place. Located in the French Quarter of the Vietnamese capital fronting a small plaza near Hoan Kiem Lake, the Roman Catholic cathedral was built between 1882 and 1886, shortly after the French conquered the city. The most striking characteristics of the building are its twin bell towers reminiscent of Notre Dame in Paris. The interior of the cathedral features stunning stained glass windows and an intricate alter where mass is held several times each day. Visitors to Hanoi around Christmastime will find the cathedral a bustle of activity, and the small plaza in the front takes on a street fair-like atmosphere.

Housed in the former École Française d’Extrême Orient one block east of the Opera House in Hanoi, the Museum of History (Bao Tang Lich Su) recounts Vietnam’s often overlooked millennia of history. Nearly 7,000 artifacts fill the 23,680-square-foot (2,200-square-meter) exhibition space, laid out chronologically from prehistory through the August 1945 Revolution. A second exhibition space recounts the history of the communist party in Vietnam. The building itself, designed by French architect Ernest Hebrard, was completed in 1932 and was one of the first in the country to blend Chinese and French design elements into a single facade.

Only a handful of Buddhist monks and nuns call this impressive pagoda home, but the former 17th century guesthouse turned religious temple has become the official center of Buddhism in Hanoi. Chua Quan Su attracts hundreds of pilgrims during the holiday season, but travelers will find this relatively small pagoda with well-kept grounds, impressive altars and ornate woodwork interiors quiet most other times of year. Although exploring the site can be done in under an hour, visitors say it’s worth the trip and that locals are eager to share stories about the place to those who are willing to listen.

It may come as a surprise that one of Vietnam’s most well-known leaders lived not in a grandiose palace but in a modest stilt house tucked amid thick foliage behind the royal residence. Ho Chi Minh, who ruled the land from 1945 until 1969 and led the country to independence, worked hard to cultivate an identity as a “man of the people.” His traditional home, inspired by a trip to the country’s northwestern regions, played a major role in convincing the public that he was a regular guy. Today, travelers can visit Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house, stationed behind the Presidential Palace on a corner of the lush garden grounds, filled with fruit trees, ferns and frangipani. The lower section of his home—sparsely furnished with only the bare necessities—is open to the public. It serves as a testament to the no-frills lifestyle this long-reigning ruler was famous for.

This local museum, which explores the life of Vietnam’s famous leader from the early 1940s until his death in 1979, is housed in a modern-style white concrete building in the heart of Hanoi. Travelers can explore well-lit halls decorated with artifacts from Ho Chi Minh’s past, including family photos and historical documents. Some argue displays serve more as tools for propaganda than for education, but a trip to the Ho Chi Minh Museum still offers travelers a glimpse of the past, as well as a chance to experience how the Vietnamese tell their story. English-speaking guides are available for a small fee and visitors agree they are worth the price, as display translations are limited.

Travelers looking to experience a bit of royalty can venture to the Presidential Palace in the heart of Hanoi. Built in the early 1900s, this French Colonial-style structure, protected by impressive wrought iron gates, was meant to house local dignitaries. But in 1954, after leading Vietnam to independence, Ho Chi Minh refused to live in the palace’s gilded halls and instead built a rustic stilt house on the royal grounds. Today, travelers can explore the area surrounding this ornate government structure, which includes well-kept botanical gardens and lush fruit groves. Guides are available for hire, but visitors are not allowed into the palace. Those looking to learn more about the history and life of Ho Chi Minh can visit his silt home, which also sits on palace grounds.

Upon first look, Phu Tay Ho appears to be a traditional Buddhist temple. But locals are quick to inform that this beautiful religious and historical structure is actually a palace dedicated to three Mother Goddesses. After passing through stalls selling cakes, flowers and incense intended for worship and offerings, visitors can enter into a building that houses three ornate thrones intended for the goddesses. This room also houses a statue of the Jade Emperor, who is also worshiped at this palace. A well-kept courtyard showcases a golden buffalo and its calf, which is part of ancient Vietnamese folklore dating back to the Ly Dynasty.

May 7, 1954 proved to be a pivotal day in Vietnamese history; it was the day when French colonial forces were defeated in the battle of Dien Bien Phu, marking the final days of the First Indochina War. The small, walkable town of Dien Bien Phu has since attracted military buffs who come to see the refurbished French defenses, including a command bunker, a strong point and a military history museum. What really makes the place special, even for visitors with less of an interest in history, is the sense of remoteness, nestled in a valley amid the lush mountains along the Laos border. The spectacular hillside rice terraces in the countryside surrounding the town are worth a visit on their own.

Tam Dao National Park, a protected area located 53 miles (85 kilometers) northwest of Hanoi, was founded in 1996 as one of the largest national parks in Vietnam. The park covers a vast area of tropical mountains rich in biodiversity – it’s home to 490 species of flora and 281 species of fauna. For birdwatchers, the park offers the chance to spot rare species like the Blue-naped Pitta, Purple Cochoa, Pale-footed Bush Warbler, Rufous-headed Parrotbill and the Chestnut-headed Tesia. Tam Dao town, which lies within the confines of the national park, was established in the early 1900s by French colonists as a hill station to escape summer heat. Another worthwhile site in the area, the Tay Thien site, is considered the birthplace of Vietnamese Buddhism and includes a monastery, temple and several pagodas.

Located in the Quan Hoa and Ba Thuoc Districts of Northern Vietnam, Pu Luong Nature Reserve comprises 43,643 acres (17,662 hectares) and one of the largest swathes of limestone mountain forest remaining in the nation. The park attracts eco-tourists from around the globe with its incredible biodiversity: nearly 600 species of fauna, including the second largest population of Delacour’s langur in Vietnam. While many visitors come – and rightly so – for the spectacular natural scenery and wildlife watching, the two mountain ridges that make up the reserve also sandwich a valley of agricultural land where a Thai ethnic minority live. In Hieu Hamlet, visitors can see traditional Thai water wheels, verdant rice terraces and traditional stilted houses. Homestays with local families living in the valley are also an option.